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Sep 4, 2013

Mitch Albom is at it again....

There are very few books that I can re-read. Very few
that can keep me engaged or engrossed enough even when I know what happens
next. Very few authors are capable of beckoning my attention over and over
again. Mitch Albom is in this very short list. The first novel of Mr. Albom
that I read was “Five People You Meet in Heaven”. Ever since then, I’ve always
found his novels to be…interesting. They have always been something that I can
recommend to someone else. With “Tuesdays with Morrie”; Mitch Albom moved a
little closer to my heart and after “For One More Day” he reached my
re-readable list. I've read “For One More Day” more than once. And that’s a
rare scenario in my world. So, when I saw his new novel in Crossword, I didn't hesitate…
I remember I didn't even read the back-cover. I simply picked it up. Friend with
whom I was in crossword, asked me if I’m sure I wanna buy that book, I told
her, I can buy a Mitch Albom any day blindfolded. And I wasn't wrong.

Time keeper is very similar to his earlier work and it
still is very different. This also has a touch of magic and fable-ish story
telling style to it…but this one is very somber. Coz the Time Keeper is story
of Father Time. The one who counted time for the first time. It’s the story of
his fascination and obsession with measuring everything, its story of his
unquenchable thirst for knowledge and its story of his torment and salvation
from that very same obsession. It is also the story of Sarah, a geeky, intelligent,
shy and socially inept teenager. About her angst to fit in and find the first
love and heartbreak, her attempt to end it all. And lastly, it is also the
story of Victor. World’s thirteenth richest man, a businessman, an elderly gentleman,
husband to a devoted wife, boss to a hoard-load of people, a man of enormous
success… a man afraid of the end of the life approaching soon. A man out to
outlast death.

With the genteel touch of his earlier stories, Mitch
Albom spins a story that touches your heart. Makes you smile, and make you
cringe. It’s a story that teaches you to appreciate what you have and what is
important. Thought the message that novel imparts is age-old wisdom, the way
Mitch handles the story is simply… simple, yet effective. It’s such a fluid
story that I finished the novel in less than 2 days… it’s a story that doesn't leave
you even when you are done reading it. That I think is what should be seen as a
sign of very good novel. There are parts of the novel when you wonder, where is
this all going? How is it all going to come together? The answers come only at
the last 30 odd pages or so… and when they come, you also complete the journey
that you never knew you were on.